Family
by MarcoLover16
Summary: Harry watched from the bench, knowing that playing with the other kids never worked for him. Helping Dudley never amounted to much either. Please read and review :


**Author's Note: Just a little Harry one-shot I've been thinking about posting. I just wanted to make sure I got it quite right. :) Oh, by the way, I live in America, so I'm not entirely sure how you do grades and levels in England, but here, in third grade, you're eight, turning nine. Wow…I remember back in elementary when we had recess lol. Anyway, so the language is supposed to be that of an eight year old, so no eight year old, besides my youngest brother, **_**usually **_**curses.**

Harry sat enviously on the bench in the middle of the playground. He never liked to go near the swings or the slide because the other students didn't exactly like to interact with him, and Harry knew they'd only make fun of him. He didn't understand why. In his opinion, Dudley seemed someone who had more negative traits than Harry did. Yet, they were friends with him.

He caught sight of the boy in question, sitting alone on a swing, twisting and untwisting the chains that held him up before there was a snap. Harry winced. Dudley had broken the swing.

Harry pretended to not notice, staring down at his lap instead, counting to ten, praying silently that the other students weren't aware of his cousin's humiliating fall.

However, not a moment later, he heard a thunderous laugh followed by, "Dursley broke the swing!"

Harry recognized the voice immediately, his eyes flashing with anger. Joseph VellGrew, the only boy who intimidated Harry more than Dudley. He was, not surprisingly, looking for someone to tease.

Harry remembered all too well the last time he'd had a problem with Joseph. Since then, he hadn't been too keen to be far away from the teachers. He preferred to simply be left alone, as he was pretty much accustomed to at home.

"_Hello, Potter."_

_Never had Harry felt such a strange need to strangle a boy who said just those two words to him. Perhaps, on occasion, Dudley, but he had to deal with Dudley; he was family._

_Harry ignored Joseph, sitting down on the swing, barely swinging at all. He'd never actually learned how, and all of the other kids would always get a push from one of their friends._

"_Hellooo," he repeated loudly, as though Harry were deaf,, waving his hand in front of his face obnoxiously. _

_Harry finally answered, "What?" he asked, hurt by Joseph's deliberate attempt to make him feel bad in some way._

_Joseph evidently wasn't satisfied with Harry's answer, or he simply liked to cause trouble because, for some reason unbeknownst, he grabbed the glasses from Harry's face, Harry's quick reflexes simply not quick enough, and broke them in two. Joseph had thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, and Harry had promised not to tell._

_When he had taped them up, Joseph thought he looked even sillier than before, and had started laughing once again. Harry told his teacher, Ms. Tamargo that he'd just fallen on the ground. He was never one to tattle, but sometimes one to lie. Besides wearing, taped glasses was better than being blind._

Harry bravely stepped up from the bench, walking over to the swing set where Dudley was standing, embarrassed while being tortured by Joseph. The other little kids, uninterested in getting involved, talked amongst themselves about what a 'fat oaf' that kid Dudley was.

Honestly, did the 'teacher aides' ever do their jobs? Harry saw that the two woman responsible for breaking up arguments and making sure no one got hurt, were spending their time chatting it up beside the backdoor of the school.

Harry rolled his eyes. He was going to have to be responsible for telling a ten year boy, one who happened to dislike Harry severely, that he had to back off his cousin. He gulped. Could he do it? And where the hell were Dudley's little friends anyway? Had they abandoned him due to the fear of Joseph? They were bigger than him!

Harry finally made his way, having walked as slowly as he possibly could, to where Joseph was tormenting Dudley. Perhaps for Harry, who was used to being teased, it was nothing, but to Dudley, who had been treated as a king all his life, wasn't quite comfortable with defending himself in the situation.

"Leave him alone," said Harry, sounding much more courageous and confident than he felt. He was merely a skinny boy with clothes too big for him and hair that covered his face and broken glasses. What was he intending to do? Fight? There was a fat chance he'd actually win.

Joseph's grin increased. "Hey, guys," he said, motioning for the boys and girls behind him to come closer. They did so reluctantly. "Potter's come back to the playground."

"Leave him _alone_," Harry repeated, anger flashing through his green eyes. Why did he have to deal with this? More importantly, why did he care what happened to Dudley? Honestly…

"Why?" Joseph asked, aiming a kick at Dudley's shins.

Harry felt his fear fade away with his increasing anger. "What's wrong with you?" he asked. He just didn't understand why someone would hurt another person just for fun.

Joseph laughed again, rolling his eyes. "What's wrong with _you?" _

A few people laughed, but Harry thought, if only for a second, how immature _was _this boy who was supposed to be two years more experienced than Harry? If that was the way a ten year old's mind worked, age certainly didn't matter.

"Come on, Dudley," he said, ignoring Joseph.

Dudley, however, didn't move from his spot. Walking away with Harry Potter would throw his popularity to the lowest level it could possibly be at. Although, breaking a swing made him drop a few steady levels just then. He looked mortified at the thought.

"Why would I want to go anywhere with _you, _you freak?"

Harry blinked, taken aback. He knew he wasn't supposed to answer. "That's what I get for trying to help you," he said, shaking his head. "Fine!"

He wanted to walk back to the bench where he had been sitting on, peacefully minding his own business, but he'd already gotten mixed up in the mess, so he couldn't very well leave without causing a problem.

"You know what, Dudley is too big for you anyway," said Harry, taking a new approach. What he lacked in size, he made up for in intelligence and quick wit. "If you want to show off your 'fighting' talent, pick on someone weak. It'll make you look good."

"Like you?" he asked, earning another roar of laughter from the crowd.

Harry closed his eyes, preparing himself for pain. Why, oh, why didn't the ignorant teacher assistants come to help? Was that too much to ask?

"Well…yes, I guess me," he said, shaking slightly. He opened one eye to see that Joseph hadn't moved. He was looking at Harry with his mouth wide open. Harry turned to see Dudley, looking confused. Why hadn't Joseph attacked? Was he afraid of the aides who would probably not even notice?

Harry opened his other eye, staring intently at the boy a few feet away from him. Before he knew what was happening, the boy was being lifted into the air, higher and higher and higher until Harry shut his eyes, shook his head, and a girl screamed. When Harry looked again, Joseph was on his stomach, looking up at him fearfully. The other students backed away from him slowly, and Dudley was completely speechless.

Finally, the two women Harry had been hoping would come over, came to them. "Just what is going on here?" asked one woman, facing Harry, and gesturing to the anxious boy lying on the ground.

"I—I don't know," said Harry honestly.

The blonde woman looked frustrated as she held her hands on both hips. "Hmm," she said, irritated.

"I just fell, and the others came to help me," said Joseph quickly. Not that he didn't want to get Harry into trouble, but being pulled up ten feet into the air, and suddenly thrown back down had, quite literally, knocked some sense into him. Harry was not a boy he would mess with again.

Harry felt proud, even if he hadn't exactly meant to throw him into the air. It was still something to feel pleased about.

"Coming, Dudley, or not?" he asked, glancing up at the teacher who smiled unsurely down at him.

Apparently, what Harry had done, had earned him some respect from the other kids because Dudley wasn't uncomfortable being seen walking with him. He shrugged, pretending Harry's saving him wasn't a big deal.

The two of them walked over to the bench together, everyone who saw what happened still in awe, staring at Joseph as if Harry might make it happen again.

They sat silently, avoiding each other's eyes, and not speaking a word. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Dudley turned to him. "Wh—what happened?" he asked.

"Don't tell your parents," said Harry simply.

There had been mishaps before that Harry never really understood, such as the overnight hair growth, so he never liked to speak of such strange happenings. The last time something like it had happened, he'd been in the cupboard, locked away for days with barely half a grapefruit. He didn't want to repeat that.

"What happened?" Dudley asked again.

Harry shrugged. "Honestly? No idea."

Dudley didn't seem pleased, though. "It was so scary! And—and cool!" he said, laughing.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Wish I could control it," he said, still not meeting his eyes. "I was just angry."

Dudley nodded, still wearing a huge, yet considerably nervous, grin. Abruptly, his smile faded. "Why did you do that?" he whispered.

Harry felt like screaming, hitting him across the face. "I told you! I don't—"

"No," Dudley interrupted. "Why did you," his whisper became even softer, "help? I never help _you_."

Harry shook his head. Dudley didn't seem too grateful when he was being helped by the unpopular Harry Potter. "Doesn't matter," he said.

"Whyyyy?" Dudley whined, stamping his foot.

"You're the only family I have," said Harry simply. "It's my job to help you. It doesn't matter if I like you…or if you're even nice after I do it."

"I won't be," Dudley said, laughing. Harry wasn't sure if it was spiteful, or if he was just kidding. "See you, Potter," he said, jumping up again to enjoy the rest of his recess with some friends.

Harry sighed. He still didn't have any of those. Even when he tried to help his cousin, he ended up with kids afraid of him. Dudley would never be grateful for the help Harry had given him, but like he said, they were family, so it didn't matter. Besides, by doing it, Joseph wasn't planning on bothering him again. There were benefits.

Author's Note: I might actually write a follow-up to this. I'm not sure. Anyway, pleeeeeeeeeease review :) Yes, so the Joseph/Harry/Dudley scene was actually based rather loosely on the Lily/Snape/James scene in the fifth book, just in case anyone caught that lol.


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